Just heard Doin’ That Rag, St Stephen>The Eleven>Lovelight on Today in GD History.
So great to hear such well played material just before the iconic Fillmore shows just days later.
The Live/Dead iteration of The Eleven has always been canonical for me. This one is pretty wonderful.

Vallejo ? How cool is that? I’m only half way into this one, but really like this Dark Star. I feel like we are beginning to levitate. Can’t wait for the strong finish. Blessings fellow earthlings

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This show is confirmation that Jerry is the man! Bluesy and full of soul <3

Endlessly inventive. Each listen seems deeper than the last, with interplay between everyone over constant variations of the melodic theme. Vaporous and etherial, though not a face-melter, just beautiful.

Solid 11 jam. It goes a lot of places but they seem to have a hard time holding it together at points.
Very acidic

Sweet renditions of Dark Star, Doin that Rag and St. Stephen. Must have been a joy to have seen it live!

outstanding ....top ten!

The band already had a chunk of Live/Dead in the can already. These 2 shows at this bowling alley are a smoking warm up for the 2/27-3/2 Fillmore shows for the remaining recordings for Live/Dead. They stand solidly on their own merits and capture the band at a peak moment that lasted for only a few months more -- perhaps until the Ark shows in Boston. After that, they start to transition gradually, incorporating more of the folk/county western elements into their shows. But for pure psychedelic mayhem, this period from late 68 to spring 69 is one of the band's major, (maybe most important -- I don't know) high points (no pun intended).

what a show! every song from the dark star to lovelight jams and jams till you cant take no more. as someone says, "jerry plays like a man possessed" - i'll say. dark star is great, TOO>cryptical is really in your face, with some beautiful stuff coming in during the waning moments, and don't mean to beat a dead horse, but lets hear it for the eleven! the longest i've ever heard and just might be the best. yah, 10/12/68 and 1/26/69 are tighter and more focused, but this one lights up like a wildfire and garcia's lines will make your pulse race...don't drive too fast listening to this!

a great alternative to the fillmore run...a must hear show

btw i don't usually rate on sound quality unless it's just really bad or un-listenable or there are too many cuts...again sound is a bit muffled here but it's completely listenable, not bad at all

This was at the Dream Bowl which is just north of Vallejo in Americain Canyon The Dream Bowl is closed and I have not been back to Americian Canyon in ten years so I do not know if the building is still there.... great concert though.

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Classic 69' GRATEFUL DEAD "sound", from Vallejo?

Yup, from Vallejo...Vallejo must have been wild in 1969...bikers, etc... Vallejo is still pretty wild and crazy, and broke.

Dark Star starts out with Jerry playing acoustic guitar...

1969 GRATEFUL DEAD is free from commercialism, free from stadium music, it's the underground as it sounded in 1969, before commercial success.

This show is a must have for all collectors of 1969 GRATEFUL DEAD.

You can click "Check for Other Copies" and compare it with the other show of the same date on the IA.

I recommend using your EQ during playback of most of the shows on the IA, this one included.

Windows Media Player has a 10 band EQ and SRS WOW effects that enhance the sound.

Here's one way to stream/dowload this show:

The IA recommends users of Windows XP view this web-page with RealPlayer.

RealPlayer is a free media player you can download at www.realplayer.com.

Using RealPlayer to view this webpage, click the VBR M3U link to open the songs in the Playlist.

If your Playlist is not open, open it by clicking the Playlist icon at the lower right hand corner of RealPlayer.

Once the songs are in the Playlist, double click the song to play it, then click the record button at the lower left hand corner of Realplayer to record it.

When the red line reaches the other end click the stop button to download the song. Your song is in the RealPlayer Downloads folder.

Repeat these steps for each song.

OR

You could hook up audio cables (1/8th inch stereo male jack with two rca male jacks at the other end) from your headphone jack on your computer to your audio input on your Reel to Reel, Cassette,VHS, CD, DVD, MP3, recorder and record it in real time...duh?

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD, for tomorrow we may die....

Thanks for the LOVE from 1969.

PS: Remember to click on the "DeadLists Project" link and get the "Poster" for this show.

PSS: Get the first night too:

http://www.archive.org/details/gd69-02-21.sbd.owen.7859.sbeok.shnf

Truly excellent show! all around good, but not fantastic sound quality, some distortion during Dark Star after the first set of lyrics (on my system). A very spirited high energy show! Sounds pretty damn good for a 1969 recording when listening to it on a stereo system.

I'd taped this from GD Hour back in '92---maybe? Anyway, Gans played MOTM>DS & Doin' That Rag, both of which were played loud & often on the tape I had. Another tape that disappeared long ago. I do recall seeing this show here & noting it, but never got around to listening to it. I'm glad I took the time, due to the previous review, to listen. Another perfect transition from MOTM to DS.

My Star Gauge reads 5---how about yours?

bad things: cut in death don't, no patch
sound, b- muffled a bit

now to the positives: jerry is a man posessed all show long, on fire. you wanna grab this one, trust me. i've heard lots of 69, this is cream of the crop. high energy, tantalizing leads, leave your head spinning. this show is addictive. consider yourself warned. would be a solid 5 if not for less than great sound. enjoy this smoker!

This show is amazing, and any comments deriding sound quality are missing the point. It's just that simple.

We're lucky to have a recording of this quality.

"This should sounds completely muffled... And as a result one can't enjoy the transitions between the songs as well, because the music is muffled." - smgarcia

What recording are you listening to? Do you have a lossless circulation or are you just streaming the low-bandwidth version archive is hosting?

I have the SBD of this show on my computer, and although I'm not at my station to play it right now, I don't think it's a very muffled recording. Of course many early Dead shows don't sound as clean as later decades, but I think it's very difficult to have genuine complaints about the sound quality of many of the '69 shows in circulation, and I think this is one of those shows.

I think this is a great show, but by no means a great example of how epic '69 was.

gotta listin to doin that rag.. also TOO is top notcb

This was recommended by Dr Flashback and my first impression is the audio is not great. I know that we are "lucky" to anything from this time, but the fact is there are much better circulating SBD's during this era. This should sounds completely muffled.

And as a result one can't enjoy the transitions between the songs as well, because the music is muffled. I'm going back and forth between all of the Dark Stars from 1969 and 1970 on my iTunes and this one is not the best, by a long shot.

I'm still listening to the show to see how it shapes out, but I can't think that this is, sound quality, average.

This stuff is grate. Anyone who complains about free stuff is just plain crazy. Listening to this show makes me wish I born earlier so I could have seen the Dead sooner. Dark Star is trippin good.

Hey, did anyone happen to notice through the bitching that there was a pretty fucking awesome Other One jammed right on in there?

Just thought i'd mention...

Can't really add too much more than what's been said here. Definitely need to hear this show a few more times.

hints of what is to come. Definitely of the best shows to date. This could be one of Jerry Garcia's finest moments. His nails everything, he plays like a man possessed.SOund waulity is a little bassy, or that could be my own ears. I will come back to this when my oddessy thru the archive has ended.

Well, it's probably gonna be a top ten. I'll have to hear this one about a dozen more times to decide, there's just so much new good 1969 from the Archive now. Damn ! LOL. But seriously (mostly) this show has been with me for years, from tape, to a hissy SBD on CD a few years ago - and now this great amazingly cleaned-up version. The 'ol Doctor has this one cranked up right now, with plenty of treble, what the hell, and NOOOO hiss (excepting 36 yr. old analog). Thanks Mr. Wizard!!
This classic show begins in an acoustic style, with a flawless Dupree's followed by a Mountains that just stops you in your tracks, it's so beautifully delivered.
The seque into Dark Star is seamless. And what a Dark Star!! Only a week away from THE Dark Star - 2/27/69 selected for Live Dead. They jam on the theme for over 15 minutes, very mellow and Haight-Ashbury 69 afternoonish, if you can dig it. And what a SBD! Everything to my ears is in balance, Pig, Jerry, Mickey's percussion, Phil - all sharing the mix well.
Dream Bowl?? Yeah, I reckon!! You'd have thought you were dreaming if you were about 6th row back when Jerry starts his fuzzed out runs halfway through Dark Star. The middle section is a kaliedoscope of changing themes and colors that keeps you on your aural toes (??) A stellar version that will remain one of favorite 69 Dark Stars.
Like surprises? Get ready, because instead of launching forward into St. Stephen as usual, they count off Cryptical, the bus stops by, and you get on, or OFF as the case may be, ha ha.
This, plus a killer Death Don't (excuse the pun) makes Set One almost unbeatable! Which is the only complaint I have against this show - they didn't leave themselves much to do in Set Two. Well, almost.
A strong Doin That Rag begins the set, with a great vocal performance from Jerry and a hot solo at the end. Then St. Stephen starts out of nowhere, and while it's also good, the star of Set Two is this version of The Eleven. At over 17 minutes, they take those 11 beats to the edge of the cosmos and back again! Garcia's leads are fluid and exciting. The drum work at the end, an exercise in precision.
At this point, they only have two choices left - either set off fireworks or let Pig do Lovelight, which is safer, sort of !?!
A must have 1969 show from one of the Band's peak periods, Spring 1969.
cheers,
Dr. Flashback :-)

Not much more I can say about this show that hasn't already been said. Highlights for me are Thats It for the Other One, especially the reprise on Cryptical Envelopment. They reach some pretty mystic territory on this one, Jerry just driving this band into the cosmos. Just a ferocious first set. This Dark Star is right up there with 2/28 as one of my favorites for the year.
My hope is that, in light of the fact that the Fillmore Box Set is a limited release, that once the 10,000 copies are sold, Archive will put the 2/27-3/2 shows back up. Archive, are you listening???

This is a wonderful piece of history. It is a nice prelude to the shows that follow, and the Dark Star is great. By the way, if you were too slow to get the ESSENTIAL Filmore run off the archive before the official release, just go buy it. It'll be worth it, I promise.

Great show!

Earth to the morons. You're getting sbd quality shows for free. Enjoy it. No other band in the world does this. Big deal if they yank a few to sell. Find new favorites. There' plenty to choose from.
PS-To Deborah Koons: Where are the Jerry Band Shows? As Jerry said about taping "We're done with it, let them have it"

Great show and very nice sound for 69.
I like the break announcemant too, Jerry says "We're gonna tune up, talk amongst ourselves and drink some cokes"... good stuff all the way through.

I for one am grateful for ANY free stuff and think the Dead have been very kind throughout the years as far as free music goes.

The 2/28-3/1 shows are probably missing due to the release of the new 10 cd box set with all those shows in 16 track HDCD.
For $80 it is a steal, less than $10 per disc not including the bonus disc and the 100 page book.
THanks GD and thanks ARchive! and I will buy the shows i can't get for free (GLADLY!)

4 Stars ONLY because I've heard some pretty killer stuff from 69. Well worth the download.

Phildarkside

you think we can keep reviews focused on the show being reviewed? giving a show one star because your too cheap to buy a dicks picks is not what the archive is for. very ungrateful to bash the site that provides you with grate music free....com on now........this show is very good.....amazing dark star(as the real reviewer below states) the accoustic transition is quite nice indeed. sound quality is very good. 69 rules

This is one of two essential shows for me, other binghamton 77. Mountains of the moon into dark star transition is great, (they one by one switched from acoustic to electric during the segue) This is the dark star by which i judge all others. Great psychedelic organic fell to the whole show. The 60s will always be the best stuff here. Great Other One, Eleven, etc.

What's with the one star reviews? Sound quality is a 4 out of 5 and show is hot, the boys where on this night!

Besides the Veneta, OR show in August the April 8, '72 show from Wembley is the one I went back to get that I'm really miffed is gone...boo hiss...but it's not like there isn't material to listen to...be glad for what you have been bestowed by this wonderful site, not angry about what you don't have!

Looks like the boys were psyching themselves up for the fantastic run the following week at the Fillmore, but this show really stands by itself. Just a beautiful Dark Star!!! Download at once, you will not be sorry.

hey dudes! i just downloaded this concert and it is very VERY awesome... all the way through it is very sweet... i downloaded 64KBPS MP3 and the sound quality is quite good, for me at least!

peace dudes!!

The Darkstar>Crypt and Stephen>Eleven>Lovelight are essential listening. Good sound as well for '69. Ah, what the hell. 5 stars!